AFTER years of misery, the future is finally starting to look bright again for Southend United.
The Shrimpers have battled through a whole host of issues on and off the pitch in recent seasons and came close to going out of business on more than one occasion.
Staff went unpaid, a transfer embargo remained in place for 15 months, water was cut off at the training ground and Blues were also deducted ten points after failing to pay off HMRC before a deadline set by the National League.
The Shrimpers also came within ten minutes of not being able to compete this season during the darkest chapter of the club’s long history as they crawled from one crisis to the next during what appeared to be never-ending chaos.
But the fans stayed loyal to Blues and now look set to be rewarded for their loyalty.
A consortium headed up by Justin Rees signals a bright new start for the Shrimpers and the early signs are good.
Signings have been made and the good work being done by Kevin Maher and his team can finally be built upon.
But ahead of the consortium’s appearance at the Cliffs Pavilion tomorrow night, the Echo has a look at a number of topics concerning the future of the club.
FUTURE AT ROOTS HALL
Under the consortium, Southend United will now be staying at Roots Hall, which has been their home since 1955.
Chairman Ron Martin had been keen to take the Shrimpers to a new stadium at Fossetts Farm which would have meant the current ground being knocked down and replaced with housing.
However, that is now not the case and the move has been welcomed by supporters.
“Roots Hall is the spiritual home of the football club, and I think most fans are pleased to be staying there,” said keen fan James Schooley.
“We all know the ground is not fit for purpose right now, and in many ways, a shiny new stadium with modern amenities would have been nice.
“However, the Fossetts Farm stadium felt like an inconvenient add-on to a housing development and didn’t have the best interests of the football club at its core.
“The main aim is to become self-sustainable and if work can be done to improve the facilities and revenue streams at Roots Hall, then there’s no reason why that aim can’t be achieved there.
“We’ve all grown up watching our team at Roots Hall, and I think staying there rather than moving to a soulless out-of-town stadium like so many other clubs is the best possible outcome.”
No timescale has yet been put on plans to redevelop Roots Hall but it is understood the consortium has sought advice from construction experts.
There is room to develop both the North Stand and East Stand at the ground but nearby houses and flats makes expanding the West Stand and South Stand more difficult.
But is believed all stands are being looked into as to how best they can be improved and in what order work can be carried out.
FOSSETTS STADIUM SITE
The plans for Fossetts Farm have had to be adjusted since the impending change of ownership at Southend United.
The original plans would have seen a new stadium, with a capacity of around 16,000, being built at Fossetts.
Plans listed online said the new stadium would incorporate a range of matchday and corporate entertainment space, supporters’ bars and food and beverage outlets.
It also added that the North Stand would incorporate 182 apartments, as well as conference and event space to maximise revenue streams.
However, that stadium will now not be built and that will allow more houses to be part of the plans at Fossetts.
The new consortium will not be involved in this development and it will still be overseen by chairman Ron Martin and his associate companies.
However, the plans are still intertwined with the club as Martin will be putting £20million from the project back into Blues to help the consortium improve Roots Hall.
Back in November, Southend City Council’s cabinet approved a report recommending a total of 1,300 homes being built at Fossetts Farm.
That includes the 500 homes which were initially set to be at Roots Hall.
The new training ground for the Shrimpers also remains part of the plans for Fossetts.
NEW SIGNINGS FOR THE TEAM
Southend United’s transfer embargo has already been removed by the consortium.
The Shrimpers were banned from adding to their squad due to money owed to HMRC and the restrictions stayed in place for 15 months, a situation head coach Kevin Maher felt must have been a world record.
The embargo restricted the number of players Southend could register and meant them having just one substitute available against Bromley in December.
Blues were unable to field a full allocation of five substitutes until their 1-0 win at Eastleigh earlier this month.
Since the embargo was removed the Shrimpers have signed defender Adam Crowther, midfielder James Morton and strikers Marcus Dackers and Danny Waldron.
New contracts have also been signed by Nathan Ralph, Jack Bridge, Jason Demetriou, Oli Coker and Noor Husin.
Blues boss Kevin Maher has also put pen to paper on a new contract along with his assistant Darren Currie and first team coach Mark Bentley.
Contracts could not be signed while the club was under embargo but Blues now have the freedom to bolster their numbers.
In head of football John Still, the Shrimpers boast one of the best talent-spotters in the non-league game and the former Dagenham & Redbridge boss will now be free to work his magic at Roots Hall.
Blues remain on the look-out for new signings but boss Maher has said no more signings will be made in the foreseeable future as things stand.
TRAINING GROUND SWITCH
Southend United are still on course to move to their new training ground for the start of next season.
The Shrimpers have been based at their current Boots & Laces venue since the mid-1990s.
But plans are in place for Blues to switch to the Fossetts training venue, which sits 20 acres north of the proposed new stadium site, for the start of pre-season training in July.
Pitches have already been installed but water and electricity still need to be sorted along with a cabin which will provide changing facilities for the players.
A 3G pitch is also expected to be installed and will be available for community use to help raise funds for the Shrimpers.
The new training ground has been built by White Horse Contractors.
A statement issued in July 2022 said: “We are delighted to announce that an initial £2m contract has been signed with White Horse Contractors to develop the new training ground pitches and players’ car parking for Southend United Football Club.
“White Horse Contractors are specialist sports pitch contractors who have successfully delivered football pitches for Queens Park Rangers FC, Chelsea Football Club, Luton Town FC, Derby County FC and the FA at St Georges Park National Football Centre.”
Houses are planned to be built on Blues’ current training ground.
WHEN WILL THE DEAL BE DONE?
The question everybody connected with Southend United wants answered right now is when will the deal be officially completed
But, in short, an exact date remains unclear.
The last part of the deal was for current chairman Ron Martin to agree terms with the council over the new housing plans for Fossetts Farm.
Those plans needed readjusting as the original proposals saw the housing spread across both Roots Hall and around the new stadium at Fossetts Farm.
But with Blues now staying at their current ground there has been a change of plans.
Ron Martin agreed terms with the council on this in December, leading to a club statement being released shortly before Blues’ 2-1 win at Kidderminster.
The statement said: “The club is pleased to announce that Ron and the consortium have today exchanged contracts for the sale of Southend United.
“The sale is conditional upon Southend Council’s approval of certain property transactions that are required to facilitate the club staying at Roots Hall.
“Those terms have been agreed and we expect the club ownership will formally transfer in early 2024.”
The housing plans must still be rubber stamped by the council but it is expected to take place during February, at which point the consortium will officially take control of the club.
CONSORTIUM WAITING IN THE WINGS
Justin Rees heads up the consortium and is an Australian with British heritage.
He has lived in Australia most of his life although he currently resides in Holland and spent four years in London in his twenties.
The majority of his career has been spent running IT transformations for large organisations such as Westpac Bank, Transport for NSW and Woolworths supermarkets in Australia, although he did have a period working in finance while in London.
Rees co-founded a boutique IT consultancy, Eighty20 Solutions, in 2018 and sold it to Singaporean giant Singtel in October 2021 after rapid growth in the preceding four years.
He exited that business in September 2022 and, as well documented, has since played the lead role in bringing together a consortium of local businesspeople to purchase Southend United alongside him.
Joining Rees in the consortium are David Kreyling and Tom Arnold, the founders of CSL Group which drives sport for social change, Hong Kong based hedge fund manager Jason Brown, John Watson, the owner of packaging and taxi businesses and Gary Lockett, the chairman of the Southend United Community & Educational Trust.
George Taylor, the son of well-known former Southend MP Teddy, is also involved and brings football expertise as he is currently a director of Rangers in Scotland.
Brothers Paul and Ian Redbourn are also part of the consortium.
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